"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat
The Citizen's Platform of Graves, presented this Tuesday, gathers data on clandestine graves in Mexico from prosecutors and the press in view of the need of relatives and searchers of disappeared persons for reliable information that the authorities do not provide.
"We need reliable and verifiable platforms and databases," Leticia Hidalgo, of the United Forces for Our Disappeared in Nuevo León, said at a press conference.
Hidalgo is the mother of Roy Rivera, who disappeared in 2011 in Nuevo León and whose name appears twice in the database of disappeared persons of the National Search Commission, which has collected more than 90,000 people since the records began in 1964.
The Plataforma Ciudadana de Fosas gathers documentation of the findings of clandestine graves reported by the national and local press, the state prosecutors' offices and the Attorney General's Office (FGR) and was created as a data gathering tool for those seeking answers to to what they consider inaction of the Mexican State.
The information from the prosecutor's offices "is not verifiable, it is not timely, it arrives too late, it is not understandable, it is not updated and it is not complete," shared Carlos Dorantes, officer of the Right to Information Program of the NGO Article 19 in his office for Mexico and Central America.
He also detailed that, despite the fact that the war against drug trafficking started by former President Felipe Calderón (2006-2012) began more than 10 years ago, and that four years ago the General Law on Forced Disappearance was approved, "we do not count with a clear record of clandestine graves. "
FRAGMENTED INFORMATION
Dorantes presented at a virtual press conference, along with the other organizations that created the platform and relatives of disappeared persons, the most relevant data collected by the web, which "fill in the gaps" that the authorities do not fill in.
The data from the Attorney General's Office (an institution prior to the current FGR) obtained through litigation and the data provided by the FGR do not coincide today, so the information is "fragmented."
According to the PGR, from 2000 to February 2015, 505 clandestine graves and 2,055 recovered bodies were reported. From 2006 to December 2019, the FGR registered a total of 474 graves and 1,282 recovered bodies.
Nor can they be contrasted with the data that the Ministry of the Interior publishes regularly, so that only the PGR data obtained through litigation could be included in the platform.
"We seek to fill this gap with information from an official source and press releases," explained Dorantes.
For his part, Daniel Mata, researcher for the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights, explained that information was requested from the prosecutors of the 32 states of Mexico.
Only the information from 19 states could be processed, as the rest of the responses included fragmented, disjointed, and non-detailed information, he noted.
Even so, 2,357 graves and 2,693 victims were quantified.
Finally, according to the compilation of press releases, 1,491 clandestine graves were reported from which 4,259 bodies of people and 47,355 remains or fragments have been exhumed.
THE PLATFORM
Adrián Lara, Data Cívica project director, explained that this difference in data collected between prosecutors and the media is reflected in the platform, which also seeks to add and contrast them through an interactive diagram.
Also, you can view specific information by state and municipality. It also contains a repository where requests for information, reports and other supporting documents are collected.
Finally, there is the option of knowing the methodology carried out to create the platform.
AN EXAMPLE FOR THE AUTHORITIES
The relatives of disappeared persons expressed during the online presentation the importance of said launch.
"I am grateful to the non-governmental organizations. If all this will that you have, the people of the Government had, there would be no need for me or other victims of the country to be acting as investigators and we wouldn’t be begging for information that by right corresponds to us," said Bibiana Mendoza , member of Until We Find You Guanajuato.
On the other hand, Angélica Rodríguez from Returning to Casa Morelos, celebrated the creation of the platform and that "things are being done well on behalf of civil society.
With all the murders Mass grave is the way to go, cheaper. Mexico politicians don't care
ReplyDeleteOnde comensamos? Where do we begin? Akual tumba? El del mass Tumbado? Oh el del las mass Tumbadas? Which tomb? The one we come out of or the tomb still in the dirt? Who do we have buried here? One to rise or the one whose bones are in the ground? That's the platform in Mexico. Dug it so deep we came out on the other end just to see you again.
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